In June 2000, CTA organised a seminar in Paris entitled "Information for agricultural and rural development in ACP countries: emerging stakeholders, new media and priority themes". This seminar nearly gathered all categories of rural development actors in ACP countries. The findings of this meeting contributed to the reflections carried out within the framework of CTA's new Strategic Plan, which defined and put forward CTA's principal role as assisting rural actors in formulating and implementing their own ICM strategies.

The Douala meeting falls within this perspective, and will bring together representatives of federations of farmers' organisations, technical, private and public support organisations, donors and financing structures involved in developmental activities, in order to propose to CTA as well as to other support institutions, enabling strategies to ensure a better information and communication management.

Seminars proposed strategies
In the conclusions, the seminar endeavours to propose strategies aimed at fostering information and communication management in federations of farmers' organisations. Such strategies are based on the various diagnosis carried out and exchange of experiences before and during the seminar. [more]

Farmers' organisations and systems of social communication
by Bernard Njonga , General Secretary of SAILD
Using a full raft of questions and real-life anecdotes, Bernard Njonga described a range of various types of federations of farmers' organisations and examined the extent to which the type of structure influenced the organisation's communications. [more]

The role of support bodies and donors in the ICM strategies of FFOs and networks of farmers' organisations
by Mukute Mutizwa of PELUM Zimbabwe
Current relations between FFOs and various support bodies are being held against a background of difficult circumstances, characterised by the shrinking role of the State in rural development, by the under-development of African agriculture and by globalisation. [more]

The use and ownership of ITCs by FFOs
by Gilles Mersadier of Inter-Réseaux France
In his review of the definition of ITCs and their applications in Africa, Gilles Mersadier have a number of examples of ICM for FFOs and their membership. He then went on to suggest a number of elements which could be useful in the integration of ITCs within FFOs. [more]

Access to strategic information for strengthening farmers' capacities in the development process
By Dr Fadel N'diamé of FRAO-WARF Senegal
Referring to previous presentations, and in particular that of Marie-Rose Mercoiret on Day 1, Fadel N'diamé recalled that the last two decades of rural development in Africa had seen the landscape be changed by the decentralisation of State responsibilities, trends in the nature of international development cooperation, and the privatisation of services. [more]

Report back to plenary session of the results of the working groups on "Current internal ICM practices in federations of farmers' organisations" [more]

Preparatory study
The discussions on the experiences of federations of farmers' organisations (FFOs) in improving their own communication strategies and on the experiences of support organisations in that process were started by a presentation of the findings of a study by its author, René SEGBENOU. [more]

The experience of FENOP
The National Federation of Farmers' Organisations of Burkina (Fédération Nationale des Organisations Paysannes du Burkina - FENOP) was founded in 1996 following the process of withdrawal of the State which had been common throughout Africa during the 1980's. [more]

The experience of MVIWATA
MVIWATA is a national organisation in Tanzania operating through networks of grassroots farmer groups. At present it comprises 75 networks bringing together 20,000 men and women farmers and 3,000 individual members. [more]

The experience of INADES
INADES-Formation was set up in 1962 and operates on a continental level, with a network of national associations based in ten African countries: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroun, Chad, Congo (RDC), Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Togo. [more]

The experience of the PGPA project
PGPA is the project for the Promotion of Agricultural Producers' Groups. It operates in the Centre province of Cameroon. [more]

Official opening by the Minister of Agriculture
The seminar was officially opened by His Excellency Zacharie Perevet, Minister of Agriculture of Cameroon.[more]

Welcome address by the representative of the Director of CTA
The Director of CTA, Carl B Greenidge, was represented by Mr T M Narain. In his address to the seminar, Mr Narain expressed his gratitude to the host country for the welcome it had given to the seminar, to the Minister for having opened the event and to the participants.[more]

Agricultural policies and federations of farmers' organisations : historical framework and perspective.
A presentation on the topic of "The role of federations of farmers' organisations in national and regional policies for agricultural and rural development in ACP countries" was made by Ms. Marie Rose Mercoiret of CIRAD-Tera. [more]